The Day That Saved Us
by TurboWiz70
Summary: After pains, struggles, and a decade of separation, they meet again. One-Shot. Post-Frostival. Eli's point of view. Read, review, enjoy!


After being blocked all day because I'm so anxious about the Degrassi promo, I decided to channel all of my feelings into this one-shot. Title inspired by the song "The Day That Saved Us" by Automatic Loveletter. Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or the song "The Day That Saved Us"

* * *

The Day That Saved Us

I did not expect Clare and me to get back on the right foot immediately. I knew we were going to have a long talk about our renewed friendship, our relationship or whatever it was, and everything that had happened between us. Once it was over, however, we had finally gotten back together; I had finally gotten the girl I loved back and I was determined not to mess it up this time. This was our time; we were finally going to become the couple we were before my issues and we were, as I said, picking up where we left off.

Unfortunately, life had other ideas. Not long after our reconciliation, people, drama, unavoidable situations, and the horrible aspect of time got in our way. We fought, we each had our moments of humility, and we each knew that our new relationship was about to reach its expiration date. Between our fights and the fact that I was going to be graduating soon, we knew that it would soon be our time.

The universe did not want us together . . . not right now, anyway. My heart breaking at the fact that I knew that all my waiting was for nothing, I met Clare at the park and sat at the same picnic table when we had our first kiss. We had a long talk and by the end of it, we had each discovered many things.

We were not ready for a relationship. Our past was too complicated and our lives were too hectic; it would be impossible for us to live life with this dark cloud over our heads and we both knew it. She told me that we both needed to see other people and she was right; we had each only been in one relationship since our breakup and we needed to explore more before we knew that this was where we belonged. The only horrible part of the situation was that we both still cared for each other . . . we still had feelings for each other.

Were we in love? Yes, before I crashed Morty. Now? I'm not so sure. Everything was too complicated and in too much of a disarray for me to be sure of anything.

"But what if this is it?" I asked her. "What if . . . what if us is right and we just don't know it yet?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I mean . . . I still want us to be friends."

"Me too," I agreed. "But wouldn't that be weird considering . . . you know."

Clare sighed and looked down, clearly unsure as to what we could do.

"Look," I said. "I'm going to university in a couple of months. We both have a lot of ground to cover and a lot of growing to do before we know what is right. We can't just sit around and hope for everything to fall into place."

"What are you saying, Eli?" she asked, looking back up at me.

"Ten years," I begin. "For that amount of time, we don't talk, call, email, anything. That way we each have our own time to grow, meet new people, and see where life takes us. Ten years from today, we come back here if we are still interested in continuing what we have."

"That's crazy," Clare stated. "We could lose our feelings for each other over that period of time or we could risk losing each other forever, both in friendship and relationship."

"If this is meant to be, those feelings will be there."

"But what if one of us ends up heartbroken if the other does show up."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," I stated. It was a long shot, but it was either chance it again in the future or continue now and damage what we have left. I was willing to put my heart on the line, but if it was the way to find out if Clare is the one I'm meant to be with, I'll do it.

Clare rolled her lips, taking in everything and inhaling and exhaling through her nose before looking at me.

"Me too."

Ten years had passed and I am now sitting at the picnic table where Clare and I first kissed all those years ago. I could still taste her on my tongue and I could still feel her lips against mine. It was strange, considering everything that had happened to me in the past ten years and I was here today. I really thought I had found the one, but then she left me. Then I found another and she left me for another man. After that, a great marriage and then a bitter divorce.

All those times and flings throughout college I thought I had finally found my path, but I've always ended up back to this one . . . the one that led me to this picnic table. If this decade has taught me nothing it was that Clare Edwards was the one for me . . . unless she proved me wrong and did not show up today.

I sat there from dawn until dusk, waiting impatiently. I did not dare leave my seat incase Clare arrived. I did not want to miss her; I had been waiting to see her for ten years and I was not about to wait another unnecessary second. I was looking over my shoulder every second and I felt like someone waiting to greet a relative at an airport. It was driving me crazy and nothing was distracting me; I brought a novel, notebook, and my iPod to distract me, but it was no use to me whatsoever. Nothing was easing my stomach.

By eleven o'clock, I knew there was no point in waiting much longer. She was probably with her husband or boyfriend. Maybe she was soothing her child after the young one had awoke from a nightmare. Maybe she was working hard at a novel. I did not know what she was doing, but she was not here and I knew that another one of my hopes and dreams had fallen through.

I stood up, trying hard to accept the fact that this was not the path for me and that it was time for me to move on once again. There was someone out there for me and I knew I would find her . . . assuming this pain would go away.

I turned around when I instantly felt like I had stepped into a dream. Maybe there was a God. It was possible that all my hopes were coming true after all. Climbing out of a cab was the blue-eyed girl I had met so many years ago; she quickly got out of the cab after she paid him, a duffle bag clinging onto her shoulder. She saw me and smiled.

What happened next was so strange yet so beautiful that it could have been directly from a movie: we ran into each other's arms. I held her around her waist, her arms flew around my neck, and our lips met.

I had felt many kisses over these last ten years, but Clare's were still the best I had ever experienced in my entire life. Her taste, the softness of her lips, everything came back to me and I felt fireworks and heard bells ringing. I could not remember having this feeling in so long and I could not believe that Clare Edwards was kissing me right now.

The kiss soon ended, but I was too pleased to mind. I met her eyes and smiled while she smiled back. She allowed the fingers of her right hand to touch my cheek as though to be sure she was not dreaming and I was not just a mere figment of her imagination.

"You came," I said to her.

"Sorry I'm late," she responded. "My flight was delayed."

"Flight?" I repeated with much interested. "What have you been up to?"

"A lot," she answered.

We sat down at the table and began catching up immediately. I listened to everything Clare said and hung on to every word; I had almost forgotten how beautiful and angelic her voice was. She told me how she had graduated college and then she knew she had to find herself. She did a lot of traveling and met a lot of interesting people. She had even written a few books under the penname C.D Martin. She admitted to me that she had been in a lot of relationships and had lost her virginity along the way, but she was not satisfied with the guys she was with. There was always something missing.

". . . And so I came back home to Toronto, hoping that you would be here and . . . here you are."

"Well, I have to say that your life sounds a lot more interesting that mine; I've been here going through one bad relationship after the next."

"I'm sorry, Eli," she told me.

"Don't be," I assured. "Can I be honest with you?"

"Sure," she nodded.

"I really thought that you would be married with kids."

"Really?" she said with a small chuckle.

"Yeah," I admitted.

"Well, that has yet to happen. I haven't even gotten close."

I would not confess it out loud, but I'm pleased that she did not settle down with anyone; if she had, she would not be here with me tonight.

"So what about you?" she asked. "Do you have a wife now and she's letting you meet me here or do you have kids or anything?"

"Um . . . I got divorced."

"Oh," she said; I could not tell if she was disappointed that I had gotten married in the first place or if she was truly sympathetic about my divorce. Maybe it was a bit of both. "I'm sorry about that. What happened?"

"We rushed, we wanted different things, and we just weren't right for each other. We only lasted a year and a half, but that was three years ago."

"Are you two still on good terms?"

"She moved to Vancouver and we don't talk; we don't have kids or anything between us, so there's really nothing holding us back from living our lives."

The conversation fizzled out slightly after that. It was quiet for a couple of minutes when I sparked up a new conversation.

"I'm glad you came."

"So am I," she admitted. "I'm pleased that you were here."

I grinned at her and she grinned back.

"Remember those crazy days in high school with our urban adventures?" I asked.

"How could I forget?" she said rhetorically. "And remember Drama Club?"

"And how we edited each other's work for hours on end?" I recalled.

"And remember when we got piercings on our first date?"

"I still have mine," I said, showing her the ring in my cartilage.

"Me too," she smiled, revealing hers as well.

We grinned and chuckled, reminiscing on all we had done together as teenagers. I remembered our conversations about nothing that lasted for hours and I could still the night of the Frostival in my head as clear as day. It seemed so long ago, but at the same time it felt like it had just happened yesterday. What wouldn't I give to go back and relive it all?

"I miss those days."

"So do I," Clare nodded.

Once again it was silent as we continued to grin at each other for a couple of seconds when our lips met again. It was so passionate and so loving that I could not believe that we had wasted all these years of our lives away from each other. Then I reminded myself that this was for the best; we had lived our lives and now we each knew what we wanted. Yes, this moment was perfect and it was worth every second of the wait and every circle of hell we had gone through to get here.

"I missed you," I breathed as he gazed into each other's eyes.

"I missed you too," she admitted.

We sat there quietly, our breath and the crickets being the only source of noise around us. We could have sat there for two minutes or two million years but it felt the same to me; I had finally met my paradise . . . my paradise was Clare Edwards.

"Eli?"

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Do you think we can pick up where we left off?"

* * *

The end. This is a ONE-SHOT! Do not ask for a continuation.

I know, not the best one-shot in the world, but it allowed me to get my creative juices flowing and let out some angst. My point to writing this: I believe EClare can go through everything twice in hell and still come out strong. EClare is endgame in my opinion and they always will be! Here's to EClare!

Reviews please (in the words of the writer mur xo, they are better than getting presents at Christmas)!


End file.
